Child actors - a lost childhood?

- Ruby Nanda           Let us know what you think about this story

The fact was recently highlighted when the government decided to set up a committee to probe the working conditions of child artists performing in Tele-serials, reality shows and advertisements.

Most child artists often recount a tough experience during preparation and shooting for shows and advertisements.

"It was a very tiring but exciting experience while participating in the show," says little Amir, a second runner up on Zee's reality show 'Little Champ's Sa Re Ga Ma'.

"We used to have a music teacher for 'riyaaz' for two hours in the morning, and then we practiced for the rest of the day using our Ipods," says eleven year old, Amir.

Talking about the stress during the programme the children say that the shooting days, Friday and Saturday were very hectic. "'Poochiye hi mat', (don't even ask). We set out of the guest house by 6 am and returned the next day. The time was never fixed. Sometimes we did not sleep at night." When asked whether he felt sleepy he says, "No with everyone sitting around we did not feel sleepy. And the pressure was always there to perform. We got only a ten minutes break during the shoot." "This is a new type of child labour which we have to deal with. The parents of these child artists are rich and do not necessarily need money, but today the craze to see their offspring on TV is all pervasive," says Sandhya Bajaj of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).

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